Cator Medical Centre
Beckenham Beacon, 379 Croydon Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3FDContact details and opening times
Patient ratings and reviews
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Reviews
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Review titled Disappointed
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Lisa Spencer - Posted on 01 June 2023
Unfortunately, as I work full time, I am unable to call the surgery at 8am in the hope of getting through and securing a same day appointment. So do it the old fashioned way. I called at 1pm, waited in a queue for 20 minutes. Requested an appointment to be told that the first face to face appointment available was the 1st week of July, alternatively I could have a phone appointment the last week of June! Luckily I rarely need to visit the doctors but surely 5 weeks wait for a face to face appointment is extreme! I know I’m getting on in years now but where has the service, help and support gone? Gone are the days when I could ring, or walk in and book an appointment for that same week. Everyone is steered towards on line consultations. The calling at 8am is madness for those of us that work, are either travelling at this time or can’t sit at home redialling the number. To constantly hit the redial button to hear a continuously engaged tone, when finally you get through, over an hour later, all appointments for that day are gone, try again tomorrow. I am a strong supporter of the NHS and everything they do but something needs to be done about quicker access to our medical profession. Please Cator, can you sort a system out that helps those of us that work and can’t play the appointment lottery or wait 5 weeks. Thank you.
Visited June 2023
Review titled Cator Medical Centre
Replied on 20 July 2023
Dear Lisa, thank you for taking the time to leave your review and for your feedback comments. I'm sorry that you are disappointed with the service you received from us regarding the booking of appointments by telephone. It might be helpful if I explain that at the time when you made your comments, we were trying to improve our service in order to best meet clinical needs by introducing a book on the day only appointments system. This was a temporary measure while we addressed a real crisis in staffing levels which meant we needed to optimise whatever appointments we could offer to their full potential. We were also experiencing a lot of patients not fulfilling their appointments when booking ahead which meant we had a high number of wasted appointments. Since then, we have listened to our patients and our staff and, upon reflection, we have decided to revert to having some forward booking appointments for each GP. We have also decided to send out warning letters to patients who do not attend their pre-booked appointment. It should be noted that these appointments will still go very quickly and we continue to seek a better system to meet the demand. In addition to these changes, we are reviewing the whole booking process to enable us to make the necessary changes to improve it so that all patients have an opportunity to book the type of appointment that best suits them. I hope this goes some way to restore your confidence in this surgery and that you have been reassured by this reply that we do value your feedback and have genuinely taken on board your comments. Kind regards, Geoff Cook, Patient Liaison Officer Cator Medical Centre
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Review titled Inefficient shambles
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 12 June 2023
Having moved from a highly effectively run GP surgery, I am shocked about the shambles of a system for booking appointments. Appointments available in advance are over a month away, the e-consult system is never available, and the only other means of getting an appointment is by phoning on the day at 8 o'clock for a same day appointment. I clearly was blessed with my previous surgery as this is ridiculous. My appointment is for an administrative appointment which at my previous surgery would have been done efficiently and effectively online within a day! Don't register with this surgery if you have another option.
Visited June 2023
Review titled Cator Medical Centre
Replied on 19 July 2023
Dear Patient, Thank you for taking the time to leave your review and for the comments you have made. I am sorry you experienced such difficulties in booking an appointment and that we seem to have fallen below the high standard we aim to achieve and which didn't meet your expectations on this occasion. If you would like to email me your details (full name, date of birth, NHS number and address) I will investigate what happened when you tried to book an appointment and then contact you to discuss how we can resolve this issue. Our email address is on our website. It might be helpful if I explain that at the time when you made your comments, we were trying to improve our service in order to best meet clinical needs by introducing a book on the day only appointments system. This was a temporary measure while we addressed a real crisis in staffing levels which meant we needed to optimise whatever appointments we could offer to their full potential. We were also experiencing a lot of patients not fulfilling their appointments when booking ahead which meant we had a high number of wasted appointments. Since then, we have listened to our patients and our staff and, upon reflection, we have decided to revert to having some forward booking appointments for each GP. We have also decided to send out warning letters to patients who do not attend their pre-booked appointment. It should be noted that these appointments will still go very quickly and we continue to seek a better system to meet the demand. In addition to these changes, we are reviewing the whole booking process to enable us to make the necessary improvement changes so that all patients have a better opportunity to book the type of appointment that best suits them. I hope this goes some way to restore your confidence in this surgery and that you have been reassured by this reply. We do value your feedback and have genuinely taken on board your comments. Kind regards, Geoff Cook, Patient Liaison Officer Cator Medical Centre